400 replies to this topic

[Trebla]

Props to LeBron for his awesome F.U. game!   As much as I hate the Heat, the basketball fan in me wants to see OKC vs Miami. Good vs Evil.

[kalbear]

As a Seattle resident I'm not seein which team is good and which is evil there.

[Minaku]

Didn't Wade have an off semifinals last year too?  They can come back.

Honestly though, whatever personality dynamics are at play, it's clear that there isn't room for 3 on the Heat.  Neither LeBron nor Wade like being told to do by the other.  Maybe something happened between them in the locker room and Wade sulked all night.  Who knows?

[BLU-RAY]

JL- pretty sure Wade is injured right now (well, obviously he is- he had his knee drained- but Simmons seems to think he got a cortisone shot during the Pacers series, and it would've worn off by this point); he's been fucking terrible by his standards and sub-par  by normal standards pretty much all playoffs.

[Greywolf2375]

Ouch.  Well, that's the type of game he can bring...only he and Wilt have ever had a line like that - 45/15/5.  Not even really sure what the C's could have done to really offset that.  Maybe a shot here or there would have slowed the momentum, but James just came out and said that game was his for every second he was on the floor.

That's the type of game I was saying before he needed to have to remove the stigma - it doesn't just have to be a last second shot to win it, but come out and control the game, make the 4th quarter just about irrelevant.  And man did he do that.

Well, Saturday should be fun.  Loved the message Doc put on the board - "Pack for a week."

[Morpheus]

Have to give Lebron his props. That was big.

The Celtic's were awful, I think they are done, they had everything on their side last night and just didn't play with any energy or emotion. That should have been game 7 for them as far as they were concerned; at home, up a game,  Miami on the ropes, but instead they looked old, Pierce was atrocious, and Lebron had one of the biggest games of his career.

[Jaime L]

DVD ROTS, on 08 June 2012 - 01:59 AM, said:

JL- pretty sure Wade is injured right now (well, obviously he is- he had his knee drained- but Simmons seems to think he got a cortisone shot during the Pacers series, and it would've worn off by this point); he's been fucking terrible by his standards and sub-par  by normal standards pretty much all playoffs.

That makes sense then. He definitely hasn't been the explosive force I remember him being.

Sucks for Lebron who probably thought in Miami he would get all the help he didn't in Cleveland. Both Wade and Bosh are hobbled and remarkably unproductive at this point. Course some would call that karma.

[Triskele]

The one thing that you can say in Miami's defense is that they really haven't had Bosh this entire playoffs, and yet here they are one game away from the finals.  Who knows.  Had he been healthy, they might have never to struggle to finish off Indiana.

But they also got really lucky with Rose's injury though.

I suspect Miami pulls out Game 7 but likely gets owned by OKC unless Bosh and Wade get well really quick.

[Calibandar]

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suspect Miami pulls out Game 7 but likely gets owned by OKC unless Bosh and Wade get well really quick.

I think this will happen as well. I've been baffled by how OKC have done what seemed impossible after two games, and just overwhelmed the Spurs. Precisely what I was hoping would happen, they have been awesome.

I think James and Wade together can finish Boston off tonight, but let's face it, I don't think we expected them to lose 3 games either so it's not as if they can't disappoint again. I'd like to see Miami win, Boston has a snowball's chance in hell against OKC ( I rate Spurs higher than Boston) and at least if Miami wins you have two teams well matched and the two best players in the world playing each other.

[Ser Hippie]

Who had Brandon Bass to be the leading scorer in the game so far?

[MercenaryChef]

i am not a big basketball fan. my father is so i tend to keep up to date on what is going on so that i have things to talk to him about.

this evening i watched the dying minutes of game seven. the heat looked pretty solid vanquishing the celtics.

with a full five seconds left on the clock they showed rondo and garnett leaving. the game is not even over and they have left the court and were heading to the locker room. i say what a bunch of disrespectful bullshit. you lost, bastards. you were outplayed. have some fucking respect and stay until the final whistle. and then act like fucking men and show some sportsmanship and congratulate the team that has bettered you. what a pair of pricks. fuck you guys.

[Calibandar]

I agree, I thought it was very strange that these guys just walked off the court without even congratulating James and his teammates. That came off weak. Maybe they met up post game?

Anyway, I think this is the best NBA final we could have hoped for in terms of exciting play and rivalry, especially since the Bulls lost Rose and ceased being a viable competitor right away. James has been phenomenal and you want a player like that in the final, I do anyway.

[Morpheus]

With apologies to any still grieving Supersonics fans---Go Thunder!

I know a few people who are going to be reluctantly cheering Miami because they are still bitter over the injustice of the move to OKC.

Edited by Morpheus, 10 June 2012 - 08:44 AM.

[UnCleos]

Rooting for Miami just to see Lebron finally prove without a shadow of a doubt that he is the best player in the league.  I mean, he already is, individually and to anyone with a brain, but some morons still will say Kobe because of championships (In reality, he simply had much better teams and the best frontcourt players in the league).

Lebron is an all time great, the numbers he is putting up are top 5 player worthy.  I hate Dwyane Wade, so it is difficult for me, but I will be pulling for Miami to take this, and I believe they will.  The Thunder will struggle against Miami's defense and they are prone to long slumps (they are still a glorified jump shooting team).

[BLU-RAY]

Yeah, it's hard to make a call. I don't dislike anyone on the Thunder, and I'd like to see Bosh and Spoelstra win championships.  James is a tough call- I like that he'd get his comeuppance for The Decision, but at the same time 1) I feel bad for the dude and 2) greatness is inherently interesting, and if he starts winning a lot of championships, then you can start having greatness discussions.

But I really don't like Wade or Riley or the Heat in general, and I don't love the concept of the mercenary superstar team.

[Triskele]

I think it's critical that Bosh continue to get healthier and more involved.  The Heat are different team if he's a factor.  I still favor OKC.  What a fiendish amount of young talent.

[Greywolf2375]

Back to game 7 - I thought the C's had a chance with the way they were playing in the first half.  As soon as half time hit my first thought was that they would need to be able to win the third and they couldn't hold it.  Disappointing to see the Big Three +1 go out with probably only one championship to their name, but it was a good run.  Would have been interesting to see what differences having Green all season and Bradley in the series would have been.

As far as the Finals...going to go with OKC.  The way they came back against SA, the ridiculous amount of confidence they have to back up the ridiculous amount of talent they have.  They work as a team more effectively than Miami does.  I think it is about 60/40 OKC.

The only thing I hope is that we get the players making the games and not the refs - from either perspective.

[Sir Thursday]

I'm pulling for the Thunder, but I think if James plays the way he did in the last couple of games in the ECFs the Heat will win. Of course, that's far from a given. I expect the Heat's defence to be able to slow down OKC a lot more than the Spurs' did, but I'm not sure it's possible to slow down James when he's in the mood.

ST

[Greywolf2375]

Heer Donderdag, on 11 June 2012 - 07:31 AM, said:

I'm pulling for the Thunder, but I think if James plays the way he did in the last couple of games in the ECFs the Heat will win. Of course, that's far from a given. I expect the Heat's defence to be able to slow down OKC a lot more than the Spurs' did, but I'm not sure it's possible to slow down James when he's in the mood.

ST

The difference is that OKC has someone that can go toe to toe with Lebron and still have others contribute.  The C's didn't have even the first one.  OKCs bench is also far stronger than what Boston had - hell, a park bench would have contributed more than Boston got from their reserves - and that I think will be the difference.  Boston was one solid half from taking out the Heat - and OKC has been able to watch how they did that, rest up and game plan.

[Jaime L]

Found myself rooting pretty hard for the Celtics in Game 7 as it felt a little like a final hurrah for their aging big 3 and there would've been something poetic about them breaking up Miami's big 3 with a completely unacceptable Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 loss at home to a team most people thought was washed up halfway through the year.

That said, Miami winning makes for a more compelling, hyper-athletic finals. Durant vs. Lebron to finally settle this whole MVP thing. Lot of compelling matchups. Does Miami put Wade on Westbrook? Who covers Bosh - Ibaka? Should be fun.

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I'm pulling for the Thunder, but I think if James plays the way he did in the last couple of games in the ECFs the Heat will win. Of course, that's far from a given. I expect the Heat's defence to be able to slow down OKC a lot more than the Spurs' did, but I'm not sure it's possible to slow down James when he's in the mood.

Read somewhere that Michael Jordan was the worst thing that ever happened to Lebron. Not just that he's constantly getting compared against the greatest competitor of all time, but that he watched an aging Jordan dominate as a jump shooter and thinks he can do the same. Whereas he's 6'9" 280 lbs of granite who can jump out of the gym and is utterly unstoppable when he drives. He should be attacking the rim all night. Doubly so considering he's a below average jump shooter. Definitely not a natural motion for him. Every single team he plays breathes a sigh of relief when he settles for a fall away jumper or a three.

I think if they want to have any chance against the Thunder, that's what he's gonna have to do. It's going to be a question of "want to" and is he willing to get beat up by Ibaka and Perkins on the way to the hoop and keep coming back for more? I get that it's gonna be physically exhausting considering he's playing all 48 minutes anyway and to some extent he'll have to pick his spots. But until Bosh and Wade get back to playing like they're capable, and I doubt it happens this year considering their injuries, the entire load is going to be on his shoulders. How bad does Lebron want a title? We're going to find out.